Making Your Bathroom Safe for Kids

If you're not careful, the bathroom space can present a lot of risk to your kids.

If you're raising children or are planning on having children soon, then ensuring that your home is a safe environment for them to live in should be one of your very top priorities. When it comes to childproofing your home, one of the rooms that requires the most attention is the bathroom. The bathroom presents a lot of different risks, which is why you should use the following tips to make sure that your bathroom will be safe for your kids to use.

Adjust your Water Heater Temperature

You won't want to accidentally scald your child when making them a hot bath or when they are attempting to wash their hands, so make sure that your water heater's temperature is set at 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This should provide you with water that's plenty hot enough for your needs.

Install a Thermostatic Mixer

A thermostatic mixer will ensure that the water coming out of your faucet in the bathroom sink or bathtub will remain one temperature. This helps prevent the water from getting hotter if your child accidentally pulls the hot water knob, thereby preventing potential scalding.

Keep Certain Items Out of Reach

Adults often leave electrical appliances, such as hairdryers, laying on bathroom countertops. These should always be unplugged and put away when there are children around. Any cosmetics or cleaning supplies that are used should be put away as well.

Make sure that these items are placed somewhere up high. Keeping them in the cabinet below the sink is not recommended since children can easily reach items in this location. The last thing you'll want is for your kids to find them and consume them since many of these items contain potentially toxic substances.

Add Locks to Your Cabinets

If you don't have a lot of storage space in your bathroom and need to store some of your electronic appliances, cosmetics or cleaning supplies in the cabinets or drawers below your sink, then at least at locks so that your kids will be unable to get to them.

Use a Toilet Lid Locker

The toilet poses a serious danger to younger children, especially toddlers. This is because they could attempt to lift the lid and have it fall on their head, causing a serious injury. They could even fall into the toilet, which is a life-threatening situation. Installing a toilet lid locker to your toilet will make it impossible for your kids to lift the lid off the toilet without adult assistance thereby eliminating any risk.

Add an Anti-Slip Pad to the Tub

The bathtub is very slippery. A child can easily slip in the tub, whether they are getting in, trying to get out or even simply trying to stand up while taking a bath. A slip in the bathtub can cause a serious injury, which is why you should lay down something with grip onto the bottom of the tub, such as an anti-slip pad. Not only will this make the tub safer for your kids to use, it will make it safer for adults to use as well.

Install Grab Bars in the Bathtub

Smaller children are going to have trouble standing up in the tub as well as climbing in and out. Even if they're old enough to begin doing so without adult help, grab bars will make it much easier for them to retain their balance. In fact, grab bars will help adults as well, especially those with mobility-related problems.

Use Electrical Outlet Covers

Outlets pose a serious danger to young children who are a little too curious for their own good. First of all, you should never leave anything plugged into the outlets in a bathroom that your child is using. Secondly, use outlet covers to block the outlets when they are not in use.

Add a Step Stool

Children who are learning how to wash their hands and brush their teeth may not be able to comfortably reach your sink. Provide them with a step stool (one with railings is ideal) so that they can safely reach the sink. Without a step stool, they'll try to reach it on their tiptoes, which could cause them to fall if they lose their balance. They may also attempt to use something else in the bathroom to stand on and reach the sink, which could pose a risk depending on what they use.

Use a Toy Basket

Make sure the bathroom floor isn't covered with kid's toys, which can present a tripping hazard. Keep them collected in a basket or bin.

If you're not careful, the bathroom space can present a lot of risk to your kids. It's important that you go through your bathroom and childproof it completely to help eliminate those risks and make sure that it's safe for your kids to use.